Task Analysis
To ensure success at each step, behavioral biologist Karen Pryor offers the following shaping method tips: “Begin with something easy…Don’t wait for the 'whole picture' or the perfect behavior...treat for small movements in the right directionRaise criteria in increments small enough so that the subject always has a realistic chance of reinforcement” (2002, Pryor as cited in Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2020, p. 549). Imagine you are going to use shaping to teach someone how to brush their teeth. To be successful, you will need to establish the steps that will provide enough opportunities for your learner to earn a reinforcer but also limit them to one criterion at a time.
For this Assignment, you will determine the steps of a task. Specifically, you will develop a task analysis of brushing your teeth.
To Prepare
- Consider the following task: brushing your teeth.
- Break this behavior into its component parts and place these steps in order.
Assignment (1–2 pages):
- Develop a task analysis of hierarchy of steps to meet the behavior of brushing your teeth.
Be sure to support your Assignment with specific references to behavior-analytic theory and research. In addition to the Learning Resources, search the Walden Library and/or the internet for peer-reviewed articles to support your Assignment. Use proper APA format and citations, including those in the Learning Resources.
Resources
- Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.
- Chapter 22, “Shaping” (pp. 540–556)
- Peterson, G. B. (2004).A day of great illumination: B. F. Skinner's discovery of shaping.Links to an external site. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 82(3), 317–328. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2004.82-317